


Me, or you? Or the both of us?

by TeitoxAkashi



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, remix fic for familymatters' what we do at island camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21986488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeitoxAkashi/pseuds/TeitoxAkashi
Summary: The monster was there, lurking in the darkness. Even though Enma couldn’t see it, it was always there, always had been. It snarled, growled and hissed at Enma, cursing and taunting him, mocking and jeering. It spoke in a language long forgotten by mankind, but Enma could understand it just as easily as he could understand Japanese.“Soon,” It hissed. “Soon, I’ll have your blood and I’ll be free.”There was laughter, low and sharp in pitch all at the same time, grating Enma’s nerves. “Soon, I’ll be free and all of you will die.”
Relationships: Kozato Enma/Sawada Tsunayoshi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16
Collections: 2019 KHR Winter Remix Fest Round 2: Remixes





	Me, or you? Or the both of us?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [familymatters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/familymatters/gifts).
  * Inspired by [What we do at Island Camp](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21290627) by [familymatters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/familymatters/pseuds/familymatters). 



The monster was there, lurking in the darkness. Even though Enma couldn’t see it, it was always there, always had been. It snarled, growled and hissed at Enma, cursing and taunting him, mocking and jeering. It spoke in a language long forgotten by mankind, but Enma could understand it just as easily as he could understand Japanese.

“ _Soon,_ ” It hissed. “ _Soon, I’ll have your blood and I’ll be free._ ”

There was laughter, low and sharp in pitch all at the same time, grating Enma’s nerves. “ _Soon, I’ll be free and all of you will **die**_.”

Enma didn’t react, he never did. He heard, he angered, he burned in fear and rage all the same, yet he never reacted, merely staring blankly into the darkness where the monster should be. It was like he was a doll, controlled and suppressed under some spell.

It was like he was never there in the little small circle of his.

Then it screeched in grabbles and something else. There were loud sounds as the monster slammed into the barrier—the same barrier that encircled Enma.

The same barrier that separated the monster from Enma, his sole protection.

Enma felt his eyelids drop and soon silence swallowed him.

And he woke up.

.

Enma and Mami had been running for days now. They had been running non-stop ever since they escaped from the camp, hiding from the monster. They hid in empty houses, dark alleys, inns, even in the bushes near the forest—anywhere, really—with only the clothes on their back and a phone that Enma managed to snatch. (Guilty, but he needed it desperately and he did not have any more money to spare. He tried to call his parents with it but they did not pick up. It made Enma anxious and fearful, but no news is good news, right?)

As Mami slept beside him in this rundown building they stumbled upon, Enma re-soaked their jackets with salt water and mixed with various of stuffs he managed to gather—stolen or otherwise—to throw the monster out of their track. It was something that he was sure that he had never learned before, but he somehow knew how to make it and somehow, it worked. Just for a little while.

Because the monster always managed to find their general location.

(He kept his ears open to the gossips, the news, anything.

People had died one after another every day.)

It left Enma in full adrenaline state.

Sighing in exhaustion, Enma stared out of the window at the night sky. He was mindlessly fiddling with a dagger similar to the one he used. It looked identical to the other, but it wasn’t it. Enma didn’t know how, but he could tell. There was something about the dagger, something… different. Compared to the other one. It felt dangerous and safe at the same time unlike the other than only left him cold and colder.

Most importantly, it had appeared out of nowhere one early morning when Enma woke up from a weird dream that he couldn’t remember.

“ _It’ll bring you salvation._ ”

That was the only thing left behind by the dream—other than the dagger of course.

The appearance of the dagger shook the two siblings and sent them into a frenzy as they quickly packed up to escape their hideout, clearly infiltrated while they were asleep. However, Enma couldn’t bring himself to leave it behind.

He picked it up and he could no longer put it back down.

Pursing his lips, Enma closed his eyes, resting—not sleeping, no—and breathed. At least they were no longer unarmed as before.

.

“… _wake up. Wake up!_ ”

A beat.

“ _You have to go now!_ ”

Two.

“ _It’s here!_ ”

Three.

“ ** _Wake up!!_** ”

Enma jolted up with a loud gasp, cold sweat soaking his shirt so much like he had just went for a dip in a river. Mami jumped as well, jostled by Enma. “Mami, wake up! We have to go now!”

In record time, they gathered up their cloaks and rushed out of the basement of the building they were hiding in, running down the dimly lit street.

No sooner than later, screams echoed along with a roar that only Enma could hear. By then, they were already in a far, safe distance.

The distance had shrunk from before, though.

.

“Mami,” Enma whispered. “Don’t randomly touch things.” His sister nodded as he closed the door behind them. Memories, vague and blur, played in his mind as he brought them deeper into the house that used to be their home. Their home before everything went wrong.

Everything was as it was left behind, not a single thing different other than the thick layer of dust.

“Enma…” Mami called silently, tugging at his clothes. “Where—?” Her voice faded when she spotted a frame on the table. It protected a photo—their family photo. Picking it up, Mami brushed against the little scrawl of marker on the glass—her writing. ‘Happy’

“Nii-chan, this was… Our home?”

Enma sighed inaudibly, nodding. “You were too young to remember, but yes.” He brushed pass her to the door frame leading down the hallway with the marks of their height, recorded in red and purple marker. He knelt and smiled sadly, gently caressing it.

“It was our safe haven until it wasn’t anymore.”

.

The monster was lurking in the darkness again, prowling around its restricted place and glaring at Enma. It was silent this time, hissing only occasionally, warier than before. Like there was something else stronger than it.

Like there was someone else.

Enma blinked slowly, feeling weightless for once.

There was someone else.

A pair of warm hands landed on his shoulder, the heat of living snug against his back. “Don’t turn around.” They whispered, voice very familiar, so familiar.

**_“RUN. YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT OUT ALIVE.”_ **

Enma wanted to speak, to call out the name, to hold the hands and sink into its warm hold more. He wanted, but he couldn’t.

“Look up.” They said, archaic and mystical. “Look up and you shall see the one you seek. Look up and you shall find the answer you need.”

Enma’s eyes dropped.

“Look up and see the horizon, where the key is hidden.”

.

There was nothing in the study. There was nothing at all, other than the spells of sugar and goodness. There was nothing other than scattered miscellaneous things that made so much sense yet not at the same time. There was nothing that could save them.

Nothing.

Enma’s heartbeat increased as he breathed harder, panic hitting him. The world turned into a hazy mess as his ears rang. He unknowingly crouched and hugged his knees to his body, cold sweat dotting his skin as he stared at the dirty ground with wide eyes.

No.

Nonono—

Enma choked out a whimper, trying to muffle it as to not alert Mami. She was still trying to wrap her head around everything about their family after Enma told her everything he knew. He could not burden her with more worries, nor did he have the heart to tell her that there was nothing they could do.

There was nothing they could do to save everyone— _themselves_.

‘Why…?’

**_“Look up.”_ **

Enma froze.

He whispered. “… The horizon, where the key is hidden.”

Enma immediately scrambled up, almost falling flat on his face as he hurried up the stairs to the roof—the attic.

He stopped just before he turned the knob of the attic door.

“ _Remember, son,_ ” His mother had said gently as she cradled him. “ _Never go up the attic unless you have His Highness’s permission._ ”

He bit his lips. ‘Who exactly is this His Highness?’

He looked at the door, hesitated for a few moments before decided to just go for it. He apologized in his heart, hoping that the royalty of whatever wouldn’t blame him. He had no choice.

He missed the tiniest, exasperated sigh that echoed in the hallway.

The attic was, surprisingly, clean, unlike the condition of the rest of the house. It seemed untouched for years, yes, but it looked so much better. There were a few bookshelves with leather covered books at the side, and a table near the window that filtered in the sunlight with a chair against the wall. For some reason, Enma was attracted to the chair. It had given him the image that the His Highness had sat there almost every day, whenever he was there.

It would look ethereal, he felt.

Shaking out of his stupor, he turned to the books. None of it had labels, which meant that Enma had to look through one by one.

He clenched his fists. Time to get to work.

.

The monster was nowhere to be found, for once. Enma had no idea how he knew but he did. It wasn’t in the darkness—no, or should he say, _he_ himself wasn’t in the same space as the monster. He was—most likely temporarily—brought to somewhere else. In his dream.

Enma opened and closed his fingers, feeling the strength (and the slight tingly sensation he had just noticed) that he never felt when he was with the monster. He could feel the energy in him, thrumming and flowing fluently, alive.

He looked up and he saw that he was there, standing by a huge door with a symbol etched into the golden plate right at the very top. The symbol wasn’t something he had seen before, but he _knew_ what it was. (The knowledge had long embedded into his blood, his _soul_.)

“___” He whispered, awed.

A giggle from his back.

Enma jolted and whirled around, tensed as hands up into a fighting stance. Just before he could properly maintain it, his eyes flew wide open.

“T-Tsuna.” He gasped.

Standing there was Tsuna, hands behind and smile bright.

“Enma!” He chirped, then flung himself onto the red-haired boy the next second. “Enma, Enma, Enma!” He sighed, reassured yet resigned. “I’m so glad that you’re alright. I miss you.”

Enma, flushing and flailing about before returning the hug. He almost melted into it, shuddering at the hot breath beside his ear. “I-I miss you too…” He had been, surprisingly, since everything was so much in a chaos that he couldn’t even sleep properly.

“I miss you…” He repeated, closing his eyes as to will away the tears.

Tsuna squeezed him for a while more before pulling away to lean his forehead against Enma’s, looking into his red eyes. Enma, seeing the brown-orange eyes, filled with so many emotions—trust, yearning, _love_ —that he couldn’t help sputtering. “I-I couldn’t find a solution, Tsuna. I tried _everywhere_ in the house but I couldn’t find a solution. All said was that t-the monster—the demon—will keep killing until it kills the summoner and be let free. That’s all, Tsuna I—,” He choked a sob. “I don’t know what to do now…”

Tsuna cup his face, gently caressing. “Enma,” He shushed softly, comfortingly. “Enma, it’s going to be okay. It’s going to be alright. There _is_ a solution, Enma.”

Enma tensed, anxious for the answer and also at the sadness in Tsuna’s smile. “It has never been recorded because—”

The more Tsuna said, the more horror Enma felt. His face grew pale and his hand started to shake along with his head, whimpers of ‘no’s escaped as coldness descended on him.

“Enma,” Tsuna pressed on firmly, holding onto his face to keep their eyes connected. “Enma, this is the only way. We have to take it.”

“B-but—!”

“More innocent lives will die otherwise, Enma. We have to do this.”

Enma clutched onto Tsuna’s hands and sobbed.

Tsuna cried silently along with him.

.

Peeking into the room Mami was sleeping in, Enma breathed out silently in relief to see that she was asleep. He silently walked in and placed a letter on the bedside table. “I’m sorry.” He mouthed. “I love you.” He kissed her forehead and tucked her in carefully.

And he left silently, house charmed with protection and hiding spells.

He missed the tears that rolled down Mami’s cheeks.

.

Enma walked deep into the forest—the one he had completed the circle and summoned the monster. His right hand was always on the dagger, clenched so tightly without a single moment that it was loosened.

His step was light, as soundless as he could possibly make, but his heart was heavy, dropping lower and lower as he moved deeper. He couldn’t stop now. There was no way.

There was no other choice.

He had to do this.

_They_ had to do this.

Breathed in, Enma finally reached the clearing.

The circle was still there, not the slightest weathered despite the rain that poured a sometime in between. So was the dagger. All there, left in the same place.

All there.

Enma waited.

A moment of silence. Two. Three. There was soft growls and hisses to the south from Enma’s position.

‘It’s here.’

Enma hoped to all gods watching above that they succeed or else he’d haunt them down one by one when he died.

.

Legend had it that years ago, there was a human-eating monster set loose. It had eaten up more than half of the residences and travellers on the island it was summoned. Blood had dyed the streets and screams had echoed all over the island for days.

Some said that the monster ate the summoner and then over ate to the point that it killed itself. Some said that the summoner, brandished with only a small dagger, killed the monster and then killed themselves. And some said that the little prince of the island, the protector of the fairies, had sacrificed himself to kill the monster and protect the people.

There were a handful of other endings, but were they accurate at all? No one knew.

No one except for the sister of the summoner.

Mami, hand in hand with a little boy with red hair, happily chatted as they headed down the street. The little boy chattered animatedly, stammering here and there but very enthusiastic.

“A-and then the dream me killed the monster! I killed it!”

Mami smiled. “Wow! That’s so amazing and brave of you!”

The boy nodded. “En! I was so scared though. It was big and g-gnarly and its eyes were really red! N-not like ours, but i-it looked like a bad person’s! B-but someone helped me! They were really warm and they stood beside me as we defeated it!”

“They must be your friend, then.”

“I-I hope so… I don’t know what happened to them though… I-I woke up after the monster died… I hope that they are alright…” He said sadly, voice fading at the last bit as he looked down.

Mami stopped them and knelt, cupping his face and tilted it up to look at her. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m sure that they’re alright. After all, you saw them smiling at you, didn’t you?”

The boy paused, thinking for a while before nodding with a grin. “Yes!”

Mami patted his head, hugging him. “Remember, trust your heart and intuition. Believe in your dreams and never run away from it, alright?”

“Yes, mum.”

A squeal caught their attention as Mami stood up. The little boy’s red eyes brightened as he waved back vigorously at another boy with brown, spiky hair. He looked up at Mami eagerly. Mami giggled and nodded, pushing him slightly. “Go ahead. Have fun and stay safe.”

“Okay! See you, mum! Love you!”

“Love you too!”

The boy ran up to his friends.

“Tsuna-kun!”

“Enma-chan!!”

Mami couldn’t help but teared up a little when the two boys hugged each other. “I’m sure that they’re alright, right, nii-chan?”

**Author's Note:**

> I've not edit it well I'm so sorry!!!!!! I feel like I've not done the story justice to be honest and I didn't actually want to end it on that note. There was so many things I wanted to add but I also wanted it to be open and stuff so there. Having to fill in little details ourselves when we're reading a story is an amazing experience, no? ~~pleaseexcusemyexcuses~~


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